The cell is the basic unit of the human body. Each cell is made up of unique little parts that make it run do and do what it needs to do. Cells then group together to form organs, which in turn group together to form organ systems. This is what makes up the human being and everything else that goes along with being one: going to work, paying taxes, not slamming the jerk that just cut you off  (also known as living everyday as a human being).

We all in turn exist in a world with other humans and as the relationship between cells progresses to the level of human interaction, an even more complex and varied group of connections begin to unfold (and if you want to get some really interesting perspectives, you could try to include our relationship with the rest of the galaxy, universe, etc.. No word yet on how far out you can go though).

Still, at it’s most basic form, everything is good for something. A wiser man than I currently am put it like this: “There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth.”

That is what being useful is all about: doing the right thing at the right time. For example, it’s not cool if my kidneys decide to take a short break from filtering liquids because everything else is working just fine. Just like it’s not cool if I don’t come through and we’re not able to meet the deadline or see the whole show. When that happens, it means something, somewhere is not working as it should and needs to be fixed. The human body has all sorts of fascinating mechanisms built in to anticipate and correct almost anything that comes it’s way. The human mind on the other hand has a much more complicated system of handling these situations and the results are sometimes entertaining when the wrong solution is implemented because the right problem wasn’t correctly identified in the first place (other times, it’s just plain disaster).

Tradition* has figured out a lot of that stuff for us, but thankfully, there’s still some excitement considering how we can’t seem to get it right a lot of the time. To be fair, to those working with tech (especially the Internet), a serious obstacle to getting it right is the advances and improvements that we can’t stop ourselves from producing on an alarmingly regular basis. A decade ago, modems that are now a part of distant memories were a very real part of the Internet experience. And even with much faster connections today, I don’t think you could crawl the Internet for a week and come close to scraping the bottom (and that’s assuming you’re looking through just the good stuff. But I digress**).

It’s not all about gloriously solving world problems, building castles in the sky, or taking over the world, although the principles of being useful still apply there. Being useful is about being a funny video if you’re supposed to be a funny video, making kick-ass apps if that’s what you do or enjoying the privilege of playing catch with your son.

That is how to take over the world.

Any thoughts? Is this a useful/good idea at all or is it more romantic and hairy-eyed? Tell me what you think in the comments section.

* This is the definition of tradition I like best: customs, beliefs and practices, accumulated through the history of their development, which form the views and ways of a society (link here)

** To digress even further, see the section on creativity in Only Good News from the Dilbert Blog

When was the last time you saw something remarkable? When was the last time someone went the extra mile to help you out?

We all know the feeling we get when someone goes above the call of duty to do something nice.

Walter Levine built his security company into the largest in Connecticut by guaranteeing to “…deliver the service within 40 minutes after receiving your phone call, or you get it free.” Not too difficult to see the connection.

In high school, Michael Dell sent welcome letters to new residents in the city to solicit newspaper subscriptions. He earned thousands of dollars before the summer was over.

It’s true, there are countless examples of remarkable acts all over the place. The problem is that these are recounted as exceptions to the rule, and a direct opposite of the norm (which is boring, everyday, and won’t make me like you more).

Everyone wants to be treated nicely. Everyone wants someone else to go out of their way to help them out, open the door, or toss in an extra espresso shot because it helps them out. Isn’t that why we love the story of the Home Depot clerk who advised a customer to get the $6 part instead of the $60 repair kit? Or the story of the the big shot CEO who would fly his helicopter all over the country asking his employees, “How may I help you?”

In spite of the evidence, why is it the accepted tradition to not go the extra mile?

1. Dan Dennett: Ants, terrorism, and the awesome power of memes:

If you work with people on ideas, you’ve probably seen it happen many times before: a bad idea is introduced, the team goes with it, and somewhere along the line, we realize it’s all about to go very badly.

Ideas replicate (especially bad ones) with a mind of their own. Kill the bad ones, and keep the good ones.

2. From J.K. Rowlings’ talk on the benefits of failing, and the importance of imagination:
“Given a time machine or a Time Turner, I would tell my 21-year-old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone’s total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes.”

3. Give out good ideas for free (vid)
Not only will they get smarter, but they’ll also thank you

4. The Machine is Us/ing Us: Web 2.0 (a very infectious idea) explained in under 5 minutes (all of them captivating):

1. Adoption of New Technology since 1900
Historical graph showing the adoption of new technologies in the United States. I think the similarities between the adoption of the color TV and the Internet is interesting.

Care to postulate anyone?

2. The Top 10 Changes in My Business Thinking

#6 is by far my favorite: “Your plans will probably be wrong on anything that is new, so you may as well just start doing.”

3. Ideas Are A Dime A Dozen

So true, but it’s also all too easy to forget that “…coming up with ideas is an evolutionary process. Just because an idea has to die, does not mean the good parts of it can’t live on in its ancestors.”

4. Stop Speaking in Jargon
“Anyone who thinks using buzzwords will make them sound intelligent is wrong. Clarity impresses. Buzzwords confuse.”

Amen.

5. Billionaire College Dropouts

Further proof you should never underestimate the underdog: “Some of them didn’t even graduate from high school, yet they went on to amass enormous fortunes and create humanity-changing companies…these examples prove that for the truly intelligent, motivated, and brave, there may be better ways to spend several youthful years than sitting in a classroom.”